With a change in Oklahoma law last year, Indian casinos are in the midst of a building boom as they start to offer blackjack, poker and Vegas-style slot machines.
The only things missing are the craps and roulette tables long associated with Las Vegas gaming palaces. But you still can't buy alcohol in most of the Oklahoma casinos.
At the Choctaw Casino just north of Denison, the current facility is dwarfed by one being built down the road.
A new coliseum that recently hosted a Reba McIntire concert sits between the two buildings, and a new wing is being added to the tribe's motel.
The Choctaw Casino and the massive Winstar Casino, run by The Chickasaw Nation just north of Gainesville, are attempting to lure a new wave of Metroplex gamblers northward.
And with the passage of the new gaming laws, the state of Oklahoma is getting its first chance to sample some of the winnings. The Oklahoma state treasurer's office is estimating the state will raise $71 million annually once the new games are up and running at all of the tribal casinos.
Nationally, Indian gaming revenue exceeded $16.7 billion at 330 casinos in 2003 -- up from $9.8 billion at 310 casinos in 1999, according to the National Indian Gaming Commission.
The opening of Winstar has already changed the dynamics for Texas gamblers, luring many away from Shreveport-Bossier City, La., and upping the pressure on Texas lawmakers who resisted gambling initiatives in the recently completed legislative session.
"You've cut the distances in half for Dallas-Fort Worth gamblers with these Oklahoma Indian casinos," said Bill Thompson, a University of Nevada-Las Vegas professor of public administration who studies the gaming industry.
"I think you'll probably see the vote in Texas for gambling in Texas in five years if Oklahoma keeps expanding its operations," Thompson said.
At the Choctaw Casino in Durant, about 12 miles north of the Texas line, most gamblers aren't concerned with such debates. They're thinking about playing their next hand.
Frisco resident Jack Foster, who was playing blackjack, said the new amenities are drawing attention.
"I love playing blackjack, and I can't wait til they get the new casino built over there," said Foster as he pointed to the construction under way across the parking lot.
"It ain't Vegas but it's whole lot easier to drive up here than all the way over to Sherveport."
Choctaw Casino officials believe the new games are bringing a fresh batch of gamblers northward.
"We do believe the table games bring different clientele," said Chris Howell, blackjack manager for the Choctaw Casino. "Lots of ladies seem interested. We haven't done a market study recently, but we do believe we have a base out of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma."
It's a similar story 50 miles west at the circus-themed Winstar casino that greets drivers along Interstate 35 just as they cross the Red River.
In the parking lot, Texas tags comprise an overwhelming majority of license plates with a sprinkling of Oklahoma and Kansas plus a handful of vehicles from Colorado.
The Chickasaw Nation, which operates the Winstar casino, did not respond to requests for interviews about its expansion plans.
But The Daily Oklahoman reported in January that tribal officials plan to invest $260 million on casinos, including $153 million to transform Winstar into a Vegas-like entity.
Those types of pronouncements make Louisiana gambling officials a little nervous.
"Oklahoma is a factor with their more aggressive development of those properties. I don't know what we can do," said Wade Duty, executive director of the Louisiana Casino Association, which represents 10 of the 15 riverboat casinos in Louisiana.
When Winstar opened in the fall of 2003, the Shreveport-Bossier City casinos saw a 13 percent drop in business. Those figures rebounded, Duty said, but revenue has remained flat the last two years.
"We're getting squeezed by Mississippi on one side, which has far more favorable compacts with the state," Duty said. "And, on the other side, we've got Winstar and these other Oklahoma tribal casinos that are growing like crazy."
All 24 Oklahoma tribes that offer gaming have negotiated compacts with the state of Oklahoma since the law passed in November.
Under the agreements, the state receives 10 percent of the net winnings from card games, 4 percent of the first $10 million in winnings from electronic games, 5 percent of the next $10 million and 6 percent of winnings over $20 million, said Tim Allen, a spokesman for the Oklahoma state Treasurer's Office. Oklahoma is not entitled to gaming revenue from the bingo and video bingo games that were already legal, Allen said.
Oklahoma has collected nearly $1.5 million since January even as many tribes are still in the process of adding the new games.
The state collected $273,000 for card games from the Chickasaw casino in March and April and $80,000 from the Choctaw operation between January and April.
But financial reports on the Chickasaw tribe's Web site show its net assets have more than doubled since Winstar opened -- from $138 million in August 2003 to $315 million in April 2005.
In Texas, only the Kickapoo Tribe's Lucky Eagle Casino in Eagle Pass is allowed to offer gambling.
Texas' other two tribes -- the Tiguas in El Paso and the Alabama-Coushtatta near Livingston -- aren't allowed to offer gaming under state law. Legislation that would have opened the door to more gambling in Texas by allowing video slots at Texas racetracks and the two reservations failed this spring.
But Thompson, the UNLV professor who testified on behalf of the Alambama-Coushatta during its legal battles over offering gambling, said Texas is following a familiar pattern.
"Efforts to open up states to casinos usually don't work the first time out," Thompson said. "It's the second or third try that it usually works.
"Right now, you see a lot more advertisements in your area with the Winstar casinos that haven't been there before.
When people see that stuff, they respond. Some people who might have opposed it go out and try it and suddenly they're favor of bringing it in to their own state."